Some 2006 Stats to Chew On

• Happy New Year 2007! Here's some great US Census bureau stats released today about our consumption of media in the last 365 days.

There's some interesting facts here. For instance, did you know that according to the new U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007, adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.

According to projections from a communications industry forecast, people will spend:

• 65 days in front of the TV
• 41 days listening to radio
• A little over a week on the Internet in 2007
• Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper
• Teens and adults will spend another week listening to recorded music
• Consumer spending for media is forecasted to be $936.75 per person

Looks like media is warping at full speed ahead. Read the press release for more facts.

Also, can someone please explain this one to me?

• The retail price of a gallon of milk jumped from $2.79 in 2000 to $3.24 in 2005, while a pound of creamy peanut butter dropped from $1.96 to $1.70. (Table 712)

And this stat really proves the direction I believe we are unfortunately emphasizing too much in school. Are teachers more generous with A's? The likely scenario is that the caliber of students is higher today with more people applying to college more than ever.

• Nearly half (47 percent) of college freshmen enrolled in 2005 had earned an average grade of A in high school, compared to 2-in-10 (20 percent) in 1970. The majority (79 percent) of freshmen in 1970 had an important personal objective of “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” By 2005, the majority of freshmen (75 percent) said their primary objective was “being very well off financially.” (Table 274)

It's crazy to think that everyone is out there for financial stability. I certainly hope that there's more to college than that for our future generations.